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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29573301">Kindred</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009'>Rosie2009</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:02:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29573301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katniss makes the hard decision to decide to start sharing one more piece of her life with Prim. Unfortunately, it is one of the hardest and most heartbreaking pieces.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katniss Everdeen &amp; Primrose Everdeen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Kindred</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   She was the only family that had ever remained consistent for Katniss. After their father had fallen in the mine collapse and their mother had turned into some sort of detached specter, Prim was the only one that Katniss could depend upon.</p><p>   Not necessarily in the sense of provision was this dependence, but more so in the sense of continuity and sameness. Prim never changed, and she was a steady, grounding rock for the young woman.</p><p>   In that way, they were kindred in every sense of the word. Not only were they family, but their spirits were one and the same.</p><p>   Which was why Katniss felt free to share almost every piece of her life with Prim.</p><p>   However, there was still a few small aspects that she did not feel comfortable sharing, which largely included the games. It was for good reason that she did not share. She felt that if she told Prim everything that had happened, she would make the poor girl feel some variation of a survivor’s guilt.</p><p>   One night, Katniss had jerked herself awake from a nightmare, her eyes wide and her heart racing in her chest as she tightly clenched the sheets in her fists. She had obviously screamed in her sleep because Prim suddenly hurried through the door, looking in at her. Katniss swallowed hard, forcing herself to at least seem a little calmer despite the fact that the faces of the dead were flashing through her mind at the speed of light.</p><p>   “Are you okay?” Prim questioned, carefully shutting the door behind her. Katniss nodded, still breathing as if she had been running a marathon.</p><p>   “I’m fine.”</p><p>   Prim nodded, but nevertheless came closer to Katniss and stood by the bedside. Katniss immediately recognized the movement and wordlessly moved the covers back so that the girl could climb in bed with her.</p><p>   As soon as she did, Prim wasted no time in getting in bed next to her and snuggling in next to her as they wordlessly enjoyed one another’s company. Katniss shut her eyes tightly as she breathed in the scent of her sister nearby her. Rue’s eyes continued to flash in her mind in both human and mutt forms, and it was something that continued to bother the young woman as she inevitably shuddered.</p><p>   “I know you don’t like to talk about it with me. I really wish you would, though,” Prim expressed, and Katniss breathed out deeply, just barely looking down at the girl curled into her side as she collected herself enough to speak more than just one or two words.</p><p>   “Little duck, it’s not your burden to bear,” Katniss whispered quietly, and Prim shook her head.</p><p>   “It is. You volunteered for me, and—”</p><p>   “Exactly. <em>I </em>volunteered for <em>you</em>. It was my choice, and I wanted to, Prim. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had let you walk into that arena,” Katniss admitted, and Prim was silent, considering the words.</p><p>   “Katniss… Please let me help you. I’m stronger now, and you’re hurt,” Prim told her, pulling away from Katniss’s side so that she could look into her older sister’s icy blue eyes. But Katniss desperately kept her gaze turned away from Prim. She did not want to have to look into the younger girl’s eyes because she knew she would fall weak to Prim’s pleas.</p><p>   “I’m not hurt,” Katniss immediately replied, attempting to dismiss Prim’s attempts at prying further into the ordeal with the Hunger Games.</p><p>   “On the inside, you are,” Prim astutely noted, and Katniss felt the slightest hints of a smile tugging at her lips, pride and love toward her sister rising in her chest. The girl was quick as a whip.</p><p>   “You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Katniss softly asked, looking to the younger girl. As soon as she met Prim’s eyes, she knew that she would give in to the girl’s requests.</p><p>   “Please tell me,” Prim quietly requested, and Katniss sighed deeply through her nose. She shifted her gaze, considering how she would even begin.</p><p>   Katniss considered carefully the words that she would say to describe what had happened in the games. Katniss did not want to scare Prim, but there had also been a wordless agreement to tell her about the dreams and the thoughts that Katniss had been having as a result of the Hunger Games.</p><p>   So she resolved to tell her very little.</p><p>   “You know Rue?” Katniss questioned in a manner that was more of a statement, and Prim’s eyes lit up in recognition.</p><p>   “The twelve-year-old from District Eleven?” Prim asked, and Katniss nodded.</p><p>   “She was killed, and I couldn’t save her,” Katniss told her, knowing that Prim was already aware of this. She swallowed as she thought out her next words.</p><p>   “Toward the end, when me and Peeta were trapped with one of the careers on top of the cornucopia, the mutts attacked us,” Katniss expressed, and Prim nodded, eager to soak in every bit of any information that Katniss was willing to expose to her. Katniss could feel the pain aching in her chest and the tears prickling at her eyes at the very thought of the sweet child that had fallen.</p><p>   “Did they show any close-ups of the mutts’ faces on TV?” Katniss asked, her voice thick with unshed tears, and Prim shook her head.</p><p>   “Not really,” Prim replied, and Katniss breathed out shakily.</p><p>   “Well… The mutts in the arena have the eyes of the fallen tributes,” Katniss mumbled so lowly that she was not sure that Prim would hear. However, just judging by how swiftly Prim looked at her, she knew that the girl had heard her words quite clearly indeed.</p><p>   Prim’s eyes were wide as she considered the thought. Katniss immediately regretted saying anything, and she started to speak to the girl. But before she could say anything, Prim grabbed her tightly in a hug.</p><p>   “I’m sorry, Katniss,” Prim whispered, and Katniss blinked. She soon slowly returned the embrace, leaning her chin on Prim’s shoulder.</p><p>   It was the first time that anyone outside of Peeta or Haymitch had even remotely began to grasp how it had affected. Gale never really understood and despite the fact that he really knew her well, he did not know every facet of her.</p><p>   Even though it was just a small piece in what traumatized her in her every living moment, it felt relieving somehow to recount it to someone so close to her. Indeed, she would probably share more with her sister in future.</p><p>   And when she drifted off to sleep with her sister by her side, there were no more nightmares for the rest of the night.</p>
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